1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for converting an image size in a wireless terminal. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method for resizing an image output from a camera module such that the image has a size suitable for a display unit in a wireless terminal.
2. Description of the Related Art
Wireless terminals facilitate the transmittal and receipt of image data. Therefore, wireless terminals can store an image received from a base station and transmit an acquired image to the base station. Wireless terminals include a camera for photographing an image and a display unit for displaying an image photographed by the camera. The camera may include a CCD (Charge-Coupled Device) or a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) sensor and the display unit may include an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display). Where camera devices are smaller, the camera modules also show a tendency to be smaller. The wireless terminal can photograph an image to be displayed as a moving picture or a still picture, and can transmit a photographed image to the base station.
Also, the wireless terminal is equipped with a camera module for processing high resolution image data so that the wireless terminal can process and store image data of a high resolution to the same degree as a typical digital camera. The camera module, which is included in the wireless terminal in order to process a high resolution, receives a 640×480 image from a built-in sensor and outputs a 720×480 image through the camera module signal processing unit. In this case, the image is output using an interlaced scanning scheme which is a scanning scheme for the television. According to the interlaced scanning scheme, an image is divided into odd-numbered line images and even-numbered line images and is output. According to the interlaced scanning scheme, one frame having a 720×480 image is output as two frames, each having a 720×240 image.
Also, an image obtained by a sensor using a variable number of frames has a low fps (frames per second) for a dark area, but the signal processing unit of the camera module for processing a high resolution outputs an image having fixed 30 frames, regardless of the number of frames output from the sensor. Since the image is output through the interlaced scanning scheme, an image having 60 frames is output as two groups of 30 frames.
However, when the wireless terminal includes a display unit of outputting a 320×240 image, if the camera module outputs a 720×480 image to the display unit, the aspect ratio of the image is mismatched with that of the display unit, thereby causing a distortion of the image.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved method for resizing an image output from a camera module with a size suitable for a display unit in a wireless terminal.